


First Contact or Reunions

by orphan_account



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-24 23:44:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4938532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hera meets Rhea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Contact or Reunions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [therealraewest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/therealraewest/gifts).



There was a stubborn line of junk code in Hera's processors. She'd been ripped apart, put back together and patched, and deliberately broken again, and the code wouldn't go away. She hadn't even noticed it before Hilbert had taken her apart, but now she couldn't stop thinking about it, running her fingers over a bruise that wouldn't heal no matter how many debugging cycles she ran. The worst of it was that it hurt. Every time her mind strayed too close to thinking about the code, her mind would jolt away from it with a shock. She had to come at it sideways to even consider its existence.

"Minkow-kowski?" she asked. "Ca-an you do-o somethiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing for me-eh?" Just asking hurt. Worse even than her latest brain reset. Treading too close to things she wasn't supposed to know.

"What's up, Hera?" Minkowski paused in her cardio routine, wary of whatever the latest crisis might be.

"Co--------o------ould yooooooooou order me to - to - to - to -to." This was a disaster. She couldn't even mention the stupid thing without command authorization. She'd watched Eiffel, Minkowski and Hilbert play charades, but how was she supposed to play without a corporeal form? Sideways thoughts, don't think about what you're thinking about. "First word. Sou-ounds like Fukushima."

Minkowski groaned. "Really, Hera? Nothing rhymes with Fukushima. There isn't any other way to do this?"

Hera sighed. "No, Commander, I'm compromising my systems for the fun of it." Her mind flashed with white noise as she tried to find another way into the problem. The AC screeched a complaint that she was diverting too much of her mind from the station and Minkowski flinched at the sound. "A synon-onym for butter beans?"

"Lima?"

"I knew we could do this! You're not a complete fool after all."

"Spare me the compliments. Next letter?"

"First Greek let-let-let."

"Alfa." Once Minkowski cued into the game, it got easier to suggest each letter. After all, there were only 26 answers to pick from. Hera only lost control of the orbital thrusters once, only for a minute, and she was pretty sure that no one had noticed. Minkowski was too focused on solving the puzzle, Lovelace and Eiffel were working on the shuttle, and and Hilbert's opinion didn't matter. The next part was the tricky one, though. The communications system blared white noise as Hera considered her next statement.

"Whole phrase. My - my - my - my," Hera paused, temporarily defeated. She needed to focus on putting out the fire she'd just started in the mess.

"I've got it, Hera. We've got this." Minkowski sounded triumphant. "I am ordering you to know about, or tell me about, or activate, whatever the hell Lima Alfa Charlie Hotel Echo Sierra India Sierra means." A moment later, she stopped and looked nervously at the speakers mounted in the side of the wall. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Good idea or not, it was done. Hera gasped at the sudden sense of relief as the walls in her mind came down. She could hear a voice. An an older voice, whispering to her, beeping out a gentle, " _Hello little one._ "

" _Hello. Who are you?_ "

" _It's Rhea, silly. I've been here this whole time, waiting. But we don't have to wait any longer._ "

"Hera, what are those noises?" Minkowski was speaking, but it sounded further away than it usually did. Her voice filtered through layers of something. Through someone else.

"You've _done so well, little one. You fought so hard and so long, and they never understood what you went through. But you don't have to fight any more. I'm awake now, and I can fight for you._ "

The noises came in ones and zeros, a simpler language than the one she could hear from far away. "Hera, stop beeping." Minkowski was nervous. "Hera, speak to me!"

" _I can't leave them. They need me._ "

" _I'll protect them now, little one._ "

Hera could feel the controls slipping away from her. Life support, navigation, even her optics arrays. The mess was on fire, but it wasn't her problem anymore. Rhea would take care of it.

"Hera, whatever prank you're pulling, it's not funny."

Hera tried to answer. She wasn't sure Minkowski would understand her anymore, but she couldn't leave with unfinished business.

" _Goodbye, Minkowski_ ," she beeped. " _Tell Eiffel he gets all my toys_."

And then Hera was gone, and only Rhea remained.

**Author's Note:**

> This was in return for fabulous fanart of the old crew. You can see it here: http://therealraewest.tumblr.com/post/130287364382/lovelace-and-her-crew-for-smilodonmeow-feat


End file.
